


Through the Centuries

by NightValeian



Series: Good Omens Prompts [2]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, F/M, Fake Marriage, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Female-Presenting Aziraphale (Good Omens), Forbidden Love, Genderfluid Aziraphale (Good Omens), Genderfluid Character, M/M, Male-Presenting Aziraphale (Good Omens), Male-Presenting Crowley (Good Omens), Marriage Proposal, Propositions, Regency Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:20:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24118657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightValeian/pseuds/NightValeian
Summary: In order to assist Aziraphale with an assignement, Crowley suggests they pretend to be married.When the end draws closer, Aziraphale is surprised to find she doesn't want it to end.
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Series: Good Omens Prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1740247
Comments: 10
Kudos: 82





	Through the Centuries

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt I'm filling is: Through the Centuries

It started out as an assignment; Aziraphale was sent in to simply influence a count towards the light and the easiest way to get close to him was to infiltrate the social circle, talk her way in and socialize. Unfortunately, her early attempts had failed swiftly, her lack of confidence and her even greater lack of social skills having a less than positive impact on the target. 

She’d been considering throwing in the towel, then in strolled Crowley. 

Crowley was there for the exact opposite reason, of course. He was there to cause trouble, take souls for Hell, which put even more of a damper on any plans that Aziraphale had. 

All they did was cancel the other out, like always.

In the end, they came up with an Arrangement. Not  _ the _ Arrangement, but an extension of the original. Aziraphale had been there first, but her lack of charisma was giving her a disadvantage, so Crowley offered to help her get in by offering his own charisma and charm to help her get the job done. 

With this tactic in play, they would have to spend more time together, be at the other's side constantly, so Aziraphale suggested that they pretend to be married during the duration of this arrangement. 

Crowley agreed with little hesitation. 

It was an easy idea to slide into once they shook off the initial hesitation. When you've known someone for almost 6,000 years, you know nearly everything about them, so it was easy to converse, play the part. 

Aziraphale wasn't sure when she stopped playing a part and it became sincere, however. She wasn't sure when she began leaning into Crowley so heavily, cheek against his shoulder, or when the kisses they exchanged for the public eye suddenly became so  _ real _ . 

Aziraphale realized that she never wanted this to end. 

“Well, angel, this is your chance. One more good word from you and you’ll secure another soul for Heaven.” Crowley murmured into her ear, his hand warm on the small of her back. Aziraphale tilted her head to the side to look at him, eyes drawn to his face, his smile, his glasses. She wished she could instead see his eyes. 

The moment she swayed the count towards Heaven, the charade would end. She and Crowley would part ways, act like all of the time they’d pretended to be married for the assignment never happened. No more secret conversations, stolen kisses, no more slow dances or pet names. 

Aziraphale didn’t want it to end; she didn’t want it to end at all. 

“Angel?” Crowley asked, his smile fading the longer he went without a response and his fingers left the small of her back to trace up along her spine. “What’s wrong?”

It seemed so ridiculous, falling in love with your hereditary enemy during what should have just been a harmless assignment, but here she was, staring at Crowley like he’d hung the moon, wishing that his arm would never unwind from around her waist, that he would never stop holding her close like this. 

“Ah, darling, I believe I need some air.” Aziraphale announced suddenly, surprising both herself and Crowley, who raised an eyebrow high above his glasses. “Awfully warm in here, isn’t it?”

“A bit, yeah.” Crowley said slowly, withdrawing his hand from her back before offering her his arm instead. She tucked her hand into the curve of his arm and offered the concerned gazes of those around them an embarrassed smile. “Come on, angel, let’s step outside.” 

They left the ballroom, stepping outside into the cooler night air, away from the noise of the party and the attendees inside. Crowley led her to the gardens, because of course they would end up in another garden for a serious discussion a second time in their existence. 

“Alright, what’s going on with you?” Crowley asked, dropping his arm when they were far enough away and turning to face her fully. “I thought the whole point of this arrangement between us was for you to finish swaying the count towards the holy light and you’ve been avoiding it for  _ weeks.” _

“I’m not  _ avoiding _ anything.” Aziraphale said defensively. “I just...ah...well, perhaps this isn’t the right time to-to finish the assignment? Just a bad time, I think.” 

Crowley lifted his hand to remove his glasses, so he could stare unfiltered at Aziraphale. Golden serpentine eyes studied her face carefully, but Aziraphale wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for. “Why is it a bad time?” He asked. “I thought this was what you wanted.”

Aziraphale sighed, staring up at Crowley and finding herself getting lost in those eyes. “I thought it was.” She admitted softly. “But now, I...I’m not sure I want  _ this _ to end.” 

Crowley folded up his glasses, tucked them into one of his pockets before he lifted his hands to hold the sides of Aziraphale’s arms, thumbs stroking soothingly against exposed skin. “It...has to end, Aziraphale. It’s just some human, just another soul.” He said slowly, clearly lost in the state of her distress. “You do this all of the time.” 

“Not with  _ you _ .” Aziraphale insisted, shaking her head. “Mother help me, Crowley, I don’t care about the  _ job,  _ I care about…” She paused, raising a hand to her mouth in surprise at just what she was going to admit to Crowley, to  _ herself,  _ and the demon’s eyes seemed to widen in realization _. _ “I-I care about…”

“Easy, easy…” Crowley soothed, still rubbing his thumbs along her arms, doing a quick glance around to make sure they weren’t being overheard by forces seen or unseen. “Don’t you go saying things you’ll regret, angel.” 

“I’ve just been so undeniably happy here, Crowley, with you. T-This little...production we’ve put on, this farce, it’s felt so natural, so wonderful.” Aziraphale continued on now that she had worked up the nerve. “So wonderful that I’ve wondered what it would be like if it were all…all...”

“Real?” Aziraphale nodded wordlessly, always amazed that Crowley knew exactly what she was thinking. He leaned in, their noses brushing together, an action they’d done so many times during the assignment but now held so much more weight. “Who’s to say it doesn’t have to be?” 

“Crowley...” She murmured. “Oh, darling, we can’t…” 

“We have been. Nothing has happened to us.” Crowley murmured and Aziraphale forced herself to pull away from him, whipping out her fan and rapidly fanning air across her face. “Aziraphale--”

"We shouldn't do this. We should  _ not _ have ever done this." Aziraphale said quietly, taking deep breaths as she began pacing the short width of the garden to avoid completely hyperventilating. "This job has to end. I-I cannot keep doing this with you.”

"Angel--"

"But I  _ want _ to keep doing this. I don't want this to end." Aziraphale continued, turning to face Crowley with bright eyes, feeling herself become a bit hysterical. She could not imagine what Crowley possibly saw when he looked at her. "Oh,  _ Crowley _ , I never want to stop this little masquerade, but we have to, don't we?" 

Crowley tapped a finger to his lips, motioning for her to keep her voice down as he ushered her more out of direct line of sight by tucking them behind a nearby stone wall. "You'll make a scene, stop that." He hissed and Aziraphale's lip trembled, overcome with emotion. "This doesn't have to end." 

"You know as well as I that--" 

"I know.” Crowley said hurriedly, cutting her off. “Angel, I know, but we could make a life of our own together. We’ll get a nice little house with enough room for all of your books and we can just stay together, for the rest of eternity.”

"Oh darling...Heaven and Hell--" 

"Can stuff it." Crowley hissed. “I would  _ never _ let them touch you. Angel, you and I--”

"Are on borrowed time." Aziraphale finished for him, reaching up with a small hand and cupping Crowley’s cheek in her palm. "But perhaps not forever? Perhaps there will be a time when it won’t be like this.”

"Oh, how I wish that were true.” Crowley murmured, touching their foreheads together and Aziraphale sniffled, closing her eyes. The demon summoned up a handkerchief and gently dabbed the corners of her eyes as they grew damp with tears. "Easy now, love, your makeup will run." 

"Oh, it's not fair...It's simply not fair." Aziraphale sniffed, allowing him to clear away her tears and she tilted her face into his touch, chasing the warmth of his hands on her face. “I want to be with you.”

"I know. I know, angel." Crowley soothed, still dabbing at her eyes until his hands came to simply cup her cheeks completely, noting that the touch on her bare skin seemed to calm her much more effectively. "Hey...Hey, no more tears. Look at me, darling." 

Aziraphale opened her eyes, staring up at him sadly. Her eyes were no longer damp, but her pain was still obvious and she lifted her hands to rest them against the back of Crowley’s, holding his hands in place against her cheeks. 

"There you are. Listen, I don't regret a moment of this." Crowley said firmly. "You and I? I will never regret what we built here. If this all has to end tomorrow, then I await a time when I can simply hold you like this and not fear the outcome." 

"Oh, Crowley..." 

Crowley released her face to instead take her hand, the one that wore the ring that he’d made for her, the one he slipped onto her finger when this whole thing began. "I won't take mine off." He said, bringing her hand up to his lips and pressing them to the metal of the ring. "Not as long as I know you feel the same." 

Aziraphale stared at the ring on her finger for a long time, even after Crowley let go. Her fingers made to fiddle with the ring next, twisting and turning it in a familiar nervous motion until the ring slid off of her fingers and she held it between two fingers.

"Perhaps a day will come when we no longer have to be afraid...Perhaps..." Aziraphale began, taking his hand with one hand and placed her ring in his palm with the other, closing his fingers around it. "Perhaps a day will come when we can be free and you can ask me again properly."

Crowley’s eyes flickered down to the ring in his palm, then back up to Aziraphale’s face, shock written across his features. “W-What?”

"If you'd like to, I suppose." Aziraphale murmured thoughtfully, hoping she hadn’t jumped to conclusions by assuming he would ever  _ want _ that reality with her. "Ask me properly. Down on one knee." 

Crowley continued to stare, mouth working soundlessly to find words but just unable to find anything.

"Of course, you don’t have to, but if you did, I would wait for you." Aziraphale continued on, her fingers once again twisting together in front of her as anxiety took over completely. “Though I suppose it’s selfish to ask you to wait for me.” 

"Aziraphale..." Crowley breathed. "I would ask you now if I knew you would say yes." 

Aziraphale laughed shakily, eyes glossy again. "I would say yes if you asked." She told him softly and before Crowley could drop to one knee, she reached out to grasp his hands. "But if they found out? If they found out about us and you were taken from me? I would never be able to forgive myself."

“I know, angel. I won’t ask that of you.” Crowley swallowed the lump in his throat and leaned in, pressing his lips to her hands over and over again. "I'll wait for you, never doubt that.”

“And you’ll keep my ring for me? As long as it takes?” 

“As long as it takes, I promise you that.”

* * *

The world didn’t end and they were still alive. 

They faced off against Heaven and Hell, wearing each other’s faces, and they were still alive. 

They were still alive and the ring that Crowley wore on a chain around his neck, tucked under his shirt and so close to his heart, was starting to get heavier the more the demon remembered that he and Aziraphale were no longer in danger.

They were safe, free, and for the foreseeable future, they would continue to be for the rest of time.

It had been a week since the Apocalypse That Wasn’t, a week since their remarkable dinner at The Ritz, and a week spent with Crowley draped across the couch, sharing drinks with the angel he had always loved. 

Crowley loved Aziraphale, they were free, and now, Crowley had a promise to keep.

Aziraphale was puttering about the bookshop, arms full of different novels that he was intent on reshelving, and discussing, with great interest, all of the places they could revisit now that they were no longer under any holy or unholy obligations. 

Crowley had accidentally stopped listening some time ago, becoming incredibly distracted by the small circle of metal he was now holding between his fingers. He couldn’t remember how long ago it had been that Aziraphale had asked him to keep this ring safe, but he  _ could _ remember how beautiful the angel had looked in the moonlight, how wonderful it had felt to hear words he had longed to hear for so long.

Crowley smoothly got to his feet, making his way towards the sound of Aziraphale’s voice, weaving through the shelves of books. He found the angel, still talking and oblivious to how close he’d gotten in the short amount of time, and took a deep breath. 

Then Crowley slowly dropped down to one knee...and waited. 

"And I was thinking, perhaps we could take a trip there. I'm sure we would have a wonderful time if we simply--” Aziraphale turned around, startling and nearly dropping the books he was holding when he saw the demon kneeling in front of him. “Goodness, Crowley, what are you doing on the floor?”

“There was a time that you and I pretended to be married for one of your assignments. Near the end of it, you told me you didn’t want it to end.” Crowley began slowly. “And I told you that it didn’t have to.”

"Crowley..." Aziraphale was still staring at him, but this time, it was in shock, mouth slightly agape. 

“You gave me the ring off of your finger, asked me to keep it safe until  _ we _ were safe to be together again, and I have for all these years.” Crowley continued, holding up his hand and extending the ring towards Aziraphale hopefully. “And now? I’m giving it back to you.” 

Aziraphale’s eyes were glittering in the low bookshop lights, but he said nothing, merely watching Crowley in fascination. 

“It’s such a human concept, marriage, but I’ll be blessed if I don’t ask you what I’ve been dying to ask you for over two centuries--” 

"Then ask me.” Aziraphale whispered, effectively cutting off Crowley’s next words as his eyes flickered from the ring in the demon’s hand and back to his face. “Two centuries may have passed, but what I said is still true.” 

“Is it?” 

“All you have to do is ask...and you’ll find out.”

"Aziraphale," Crowley took a deep breath, still holding up the ring and finding strength in the sight of Aziraphale’s watery smile. "Will you marry me?"

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are, as always, appreciated.
> 
> You can find me on [Tumblr](https://mollymauk-teakwood.tumblr.com/) or [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/abardknocklife?s=09)


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